Fredericktown football playoff run comes to an end

Nov. 17, 2007

Columbus Bishop Ready's Mark Louks hauls down a pass between Fredericktown's Merritt Zollars and Thomas Hinkle at the end of the second quarter to set up the third Silver Knights touchdown of the half. / JASON J. MOLYET/NEWS JOURNAL

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News Journal

LEWIS CENTER -- Fredericktown football coach Luke Beal gave his charges a pep talk after their 35-7 loss Friday to Columbus Bishop Ready in the Division V regional final.

"The sting of this is gonna wear off," he said as the team huddled after the game.

"There's gonna be a time when you look back ... this is the greatest season in the history of the school. Hold your heads up high."

The Freddies have much to be proud of -- the 10 seniors were 1-9 as freshmen.

"Our seniors have done so much," Beal said. "The way this program has grown is amazing."

Fredericktown (10-3) played the role of giant killer in the first two rounds, upsetting the No. 2 and 3 seeds. But the top-seeded Silver Knights (12-1) proved too tough.

Bishop Ready dominated from the start, scoring on three of its four drives in the first half for a 21-0 lead. The Freddies couldn't get anything going offensively, finishing the first half with minus-8 yards rushing and a single first down.

"Offensively, we were just not in sync," Beal said. "We seemed like we couldn't get into any sort of rhythm."

In contrast, the Silver Knights put together three first-half drives of at least 10 plays. Only six plays covered more than 10 yards.

"They did exactly what they wanted to do. They're very methodical on offense," Beal said. "They ate up the clock. When you go three-and-out against a team like that, they're going to put points on the board."

Fredericktown didn't fare much better in the second half. Senior quarterback Merrit Zollars rolled right and hit Taylor Hitzfield for a 36-yard TD pass with 1:55 to play to prevent the shutout. The Freddies still had negative rushing yards well into the fourth quarter.

The team's dynamic duo of Zollars and Ryan Hathaway each came in with more than 800 yards on the ground. Zollars, limited by four sacks, gained only two yards. Hathaway was a non-factor with just four carries for 11 yards and three catches for 23 yards. He entered the contest with 58 receptions and an average of 14.2 yards per catch.

Zollars was 11-of-18 passing for 103 yards, giving him more than 2,000 yards for the season.

Bishop Ready displayed a balanced attack with 259 yards on the ground and 148 more through the air. Zac Dawson, who is only 5-feet-6, gained 118 yards and ran for two scores, while Collin Leidinger complemented him with 111 yards and a touchdown.

The Silver Knights finished with 25 first downs to only five for Fredericktown.

"They were able to dictate the tempo. That was the key to this game," Beal said. "They really controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball."